Hello, Goodbye

Chapter Three

IT WAS 7 O'CLOCK and I was rummaging through my closet. I shouldn't have been worried but I was. Becky had been watching me from across the room and she obviously was getting a kick out of this. She reached out from under her bed pulling out a large pink box.

"What is that?" I ask.

Becky smiles and hands the box over to me. "It's meant for special occasions and well honestly this is your first date so it's a pretty special night." I run my hands across the box. "Don't just stare at the box! Open it!"

I lift the top off the box and pull out a black dress. It's gorgeous as it sparkles from the light. There are two slits on the sides that run-up to the thigh. I try the dress on and start examining myself in the mirror. I don't even recognize myself. "Becky no. I can't wear this! It's so beautiful."

"Don't kid yourself. You are the one that makes it look good." She smiles and grabs the box. "You pull it off better than me."

I run my fingers down the sides of my waist. The dress fits perfectly making my features stand out promptly.

My phone vibrates. It's a text message from him. He's here. My stomach turns a bit and I feel nauseous.

"You got this," Becky assures me.

I walk towards the exit door. I take in a deep breath and exhale. I wrench the door out of my way and there he was true perfection. My eyes traced over his tanned features. His jawline was perfect with a soft curve to his lip which had turned into a smile now. His dark hair was gelled into little spikes showing his flawless forehead and narrow cheekbones. I look into his eyes. They are warm, welcoming, and surrounded by long eyelashes. I become a little light-headed.

"Hello, Jenna." He reaches for my hand. "I'm glad to see you again."

I hesitantly take hold of his hand and he begins to guide me to his car. Parked across the street is a black Mercedes Benz. It looked like the latest edition but I was no car specialist. He opens the car door gesturing to me to go inside. I oblige.

"So where are you taking me?" I ask.

"It's a surprise." You smirk. "And if you honestly don't remember my name it is Sebastian." His voice is so soothing.

We drive uptown and I can't help but keep looking over at him.

"How was your afternoon?" He asks.

"Oh you know how the first day of the university goes," I let out a little chuckle.

"I do. I went to UCBA a long time ago."

A long time ago? How old was he?

we are there faster than I thought possible. He turns off the engine, walks around the car, and opens the door for me, offering his hand. I take it. Before I know it we are side by side at Central Park.

"I thought we might go for a walk. Get to know each other before dinner." He looks at me and smiles with curiosity. "Our first encounter was so interesting." I can tell he's bugging me.

"I don't even remember that night. I never drink," I try to ensure him I'm not an alcoholic.

"Well, that's obvious Jenna." He lets out a deep chuckle and my heart melts at the sound of it. His voice was like liquid. It poured out so smoothly. "No one drinks that little and gets that drunk. Thanks to me no one kidnapped you."

I sigh. "Thank you."

"It's my pleasure."

There is a bit of breeze and I can feel my dress blowing up my thigh. His eyes catch this. I can see the excitement in them I had not noticed before. His hand grips mine a little harder.

"You are so beautiful Jenna." He stops turning his body to face mine. He's close but not too close. I didn't seem to want to shy away from his eyes. Our hands were still twisted together. He smiles as if he can read my thoughts and they must have been pretty obvious on my face.

Sebastian laughs at my expression.

"Shall we?" He asks and we continue walking. I'm still in a little shock. What had just happened?

Our walk continues with question after question from Sebastian. What's your favorite color? What Food do you like? Why are you going to UCBA? What classes are you taking? Where did you grow up? When I try to ask something about him he interrupts with another question. I feel overwhelmed and he can sense it.

"Would you like to go for dinner now?" He looks down at me. I had not realized how tall he was. His eyes shined in the moonlight, I felt lost in them. "Jenna?" you ask again bringing me back down to earth.

"O-oh yes sure." I'm paralyzed with a strange, unfamiliar feeling. He's mesmerizing. Sebastian takes my hand and it tingles. He guides me to the car and I now realize I look like a complete i***t.

It's dark out and the traffic is light. Sebastian drives fast making the pedestrians just a blur as we pass them. He is still holding my hand. No one has ever held my hand this long. It makes my body feel warm, wanted, and excited. These were all unfamiliar to me. Stay calm Jenna.

We pull over to a large white building. It looks like a hotel but it is hard to tell with the bright lights beaming out the windows. I can see dark figures moving around the car mumbling in excitement. "He's here!" someone says from the distance. The passenger door opens and someone is greeting me. I stumble out holding my hand over my eyes. In a matter of seconds, I can feel Sebastian's hands wrap around my hips from behind.

"I got this," He says to the chauffeur. Sebastian guides me into the lobby. I can now see and what I see is no ordinary lobby. It's bigger than the university's lobby and covered in artwork that probably dated back to the 1800s. There is a massive chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The floor was marble and I could see my reflection. I feel so out of place. Sebastian walks to the register. I watch him surreptitiously with my eyes narrowing on his face as he talks to the man operating the computer. His demeanor changes making him almost intimidating even from this distance.

The lounge isn't crowded. The server was female, and I could understand the look in her eyes as she analyzed Sebastian. She greeted him with the menu a little more welcoming than she did towards me. She had unnaturally straight hair that came down to her shoulders. "Thank you." His voice was alluring, whether he wanted it to be or not.

The server takes one more look at Sebastian and he flashes his pearly white teeth with a smile. Her face turns a rosy red, almost stunned, and walks away.

"Wow." I take a sip of my glass of water. "You shouldn't do that," I criticize.

He tilts his head to one side, and his eyes are flaming with curiosity, "Does that bother you?"

"Not at all." I begin to review the menu.

The server returns looking a little more composed than before. "What can I get you to drink?" and her attention is only on him.

Sebastian looks at me.

"We will have a bottle of white wine," Sebastian says.

"I will be right back with that," She assures him, not us, just him. Sebastian's eyes were burning through me. He didn't even look up at the server this time.

Why are you looking at me like that?" I ask.

"You are just so beautiful." His eyes stay fixed on me. "I knew from the moment I saw you at the bar."

"You did?"

He chuckles at my puzzled tone.

"Well besides the vomit." His face twists into a crooked smile.

"That won't happen ever again," I say trying to hide the red coming from my cheeks. "I never drink like that."

Right on cue, the waitress approaches with our drink with her back to me. And she is ready to ask for our order.

"We will have the salad with another pitcher of cold water," Sebastian says. His eyes don't leave mine and the waitress slumps her shoulders from the lack of attention and moves on. "I'm sorry, I guess I should have asked you what you wanted."

"Yes that would have been nice," I hissed, "I'm starving. I'm not some girl who's just going to eat a salad and just salad to impress you."

Sebastian lowers his eyes to my lips. I'm biting them and I can see it irritates him. "Could you not do that? It's not attractive."

The waitress returns with two salads, they are rather quite large, with a basket full of biscuits. "Now for the main course?" She chirps. At this moment I couldn't stop myself from turning bright red. I could feel it climbing up my neck. Now Sebastian is grinning as he takes a sip of wine.

The night had come to an end. Sebastian started the engine of the car revving out through traffic. It was silent, almost awkward and when he reached to turn the radio on I knew we would not be speaking the car drive back to the dorm. First date ever? Fail.